Advertising and Public Relations

Analyzing the Kylie Cosmetics Brand

With a following of 84.8 million on her personal Instagram, and 11.4 million on the Kylie Cosmetics business Instagram account, when it comes to marketing her brand, Kylie Jenner has mastered the art of using social media to consume the souls of her fans.

Kylie Cosmetics lip kits are a must have on the wish lists of millennial makeup artists, and beauty bloggers world wide.Jenner is the youngest sibling of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, and has become a fashion and beauty icon, setting back to back trends amongst the mass media. After having fans and beauty gurus trying to reinvent her lip looks, and constantly being asked what lip shades and products she was wearing, Jenner decided to start her own lip kits and lip glosses (GENIUS). With the success of her line, Jenner has recently extended her products to also include eye shadows. 
The two key strategies in Kylie Cosmetics success are: - Wearing and advertising her own products by sharing selfies with fans on social media (Snob appeal).- Having her famous family, celebrity friends, and highly noted beauty gurus wear and review her products (Famous-person testimonial).

Being a 19-year-old, Jenner's beauty products are extremely popular amongst people from the age of 18-25, typically selling out within just minutes of restocking. 
Days before releasing new lip kits Jenner shares color swaps, selfies, and posts photo shoots on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to advertise the countdown of when each item will become available. She also directs fans to follow her beauty line's business accounts, along with her iTunes app, to stay up to date and be notified exactly when the products are released. Let's take a look at the compelling Kylie Cosmetics logo:

This logo is featured on the KylieCosmetics website and is also on front of the lip kits packaging, with a different colored lipstick drip for each shade. 

Do I think this breaks through the clutter of all the messages we receive each day? For many, yes. Especially for those who are keeping up with the Kardashians, and stay on top of the latest fashion and beauty trends. According to Etonline.com "Kim's youngest sister, Kylie Jenner, came in second, trailing behind with a still formidable $18 million. Much of the 19-year-old star's earnings come from her lucrative cosmetics line and various product endorsements."

Visually, I think Jenner's branding aesthetic stands out from competitors because she puts a face to her product. In this case, the face is: her face, a famous face.  She and her team pay close attention to social media trends, use vibrant colors, compelling graphics and packaging, sex appeal, hollywood youth, and both men and women of all shades to advertise her products. 

I personally haven't purchased any of Jenner's beauty products, because there are certain beauty brands that I am already highly fond of. But, I will admit I have thought of purchasing a few shades and trying the product out to see for myself if it lives up to all the hype.

Persuasive Techniques

Calvin Klein Fall 2016 #mycalvins Global Campaign

In the fall 2016 Calvin Klein advertising campaign the famous-person testimonial  and the bandwagon strategy is highly played on. A variety of popular musicians, fashion idols, cultural icons, actors, and "social media heavyweights"  are used to target everyone into believing: if they want to be like the "it crowd," and be up to date with the hottest trends, then they need to have this product. 

The irritation advertising strategy and Snob appeal is also used by having each person constantly repeat the name "Calvin Klein." It is also implied that if you wear these jeans, you'll be sexy, carefree, and fun like these celebrities. 

Something that stood out to me was the music and the distorted images, it was all very surreal and I think they did a great job at keeping up with modern trends as far as the overall aesthetic.

I would definitely say these strategies worked, because I personally kept thinking how much I just want to work out everyday so that I can look and feel good in some Calvin Klein gear.

Dove Choose Beautiful

In the "Dove Choose Beautiful" ad the hidden-fear appeal is used to play on the women's insecurities by placing two doors in different locations for older women, and younger women, to decide whether they feel "beautiful" or "average," and walk through that door. 

Snob appeal is also used by implying: to be beautiful, you need to choose Dove. This campaign was a dud. Rather than uplifting women to feel good about who they are, the commercial succeeded at putting women down, by basing beauty on the outer physical appearance. 

One thing that stood out to me was how some of the women spoke about how they felt after walking through the "average" door. How afterward they felt they should've chosen to walk through the other, after thinking more about who they are internally, and giving themselves a little more credit. Because of this they chose to walk through the "beautiful" door the following day, to me it seemed like they chose to see themselves in a higher light.